Desperate parents of tot 'waiting at God's door' for transplant make urgent plea
A couple whose toddler has spent a year in hospital awaiting a heart transplant have issued a desperate plea for more children to become organ donors.
Amelia Bolter was 17-months-old when her mum took her to the GP for a suspected ear infection. She was distraught to be told the tot was “waiting at God’s door” and had to be put on a transplant list.
Amelia was diagnosed with supraventricular tachycardia - which causes episodes of abnormally fast heart rates. She has spent the past ten months at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London hooked up to a machine keeping her alive. Her mum Jodie Woolford, 31, and her partner Rich Bolter, 33, from Chippenham, Wilts, have both pleaded for help.
The pair signed up to become organ donors after being warned Amelia, now two, could face an agonising two-year wait for a suitable match. Jodie said they are speaking out now as there is a desperate shortage of child donors.
She said: “The difficulty with Amelia's condition is that finding child donors is incredibly hard. Parents rarely talk about organ donation until an accident has already happened. By then it is usually too late, and the organs are useless. So, we want to urge parents to make a decision now, so that their children, if something happens, can live on.
Death fears for Emmerdale's Sarah as teen rushed to A&E after exposing secret
Jodie Woolford holding her daughter Amelia (Courtesy Jodie Woolford / SWNS)“We are not the first people whose child needs an organ transplant, and we won't be the last. Even if Amelia sadly dies, we'll try to let her donate what she can to others. Amelia is steady. She has learned how to crawl and walk independently.
“She is a bit wobbly still, because she has a wire almost like a lead attached to her at all times to keep her alive, but she loves it there. I’ve only been home once in the whole ten months, but the hospital has provided us amazing support. I feel safe leaving her in their hands. She loves school, even if it is only for an hour a day. They help her do arts and crafts, and even some ‘cooking’; making sandwiches and fruit salad.”
The plea came as it emerged all people applying for passports will be asked to become organ donors. The move to drive up donation consent rates comes after a fall from 66% to 62% last year. Despite the Mirror’s successful campaign to have the law in England changed to give “deemed consent”, bereaved families still have the final say.
Passport scheme could boost organ donor numbers (PA)Last year, 1,130 families refused donation but in only 349 cases was it due to their loved one having voiced opposition. NHS data shows donation is most likely to go ahead when a potential donor has proactively confirmed their decision via the NHS Organ Donor Register.
Now, a tick on a form as part of a passport application will put people on the list. Home Office Minister Lord Murray said: “It’s vital we use every opportunity to remind people to confirm support for donation. Our passport renewal service gives us a chance to reach 3.5 million every year, providing a convenient way to sign up.” Some 7,000 people are waiting for a transplant, the most in almost a decade. Last year, 439 died before getting an organ and 732 were taken off waiting lists as they were too ill for surgery.
New lease of life for Aditi, 8
Eight-year-old transplant patient Aditi Shankar takes a joyful stride after stem cell treatment freed her from a lifetime of taking immunosuppressant drugs. Aditi has Schimke’s immuno-osseous dysplasia and needed a new kidney. But as the condition also affects the immune system, she could not be given one until hers was “reprogrammed” with a stem cell transplant.
And with the bone marrow stem cells and kidney coming from the same donor – Aditi’s mother – the new kidney is working without the need for drugs. Professor Stephen Marks of Great Ormond Street Hospital, where the procedure was done, said: “She is the first patient in the UK who has had a kidney transplant to not require immunosuppressive medication.”
Aditi is full of life after surgery (PA)It means Aditi no longer has to travel from her home in Greenford, North West London, to the city centre for dialysis three times a week. Shopkeeper mum Divya, 38, said: “I was so happy to give her a kidney. I feel so proud.” Aditi added: “I got the transplant when I went to special sleep and closed my eyes.” Prof Marks will present the case to the European Society for Paediatric Nephrology conference next week.
Aedan gets the best 3rd birthday gift
Little Aedan Klieve received a life-saving kidney transplant just in time for his third birthday. Since being born with kidney disease, Aedan had been having dialysis at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Mum Shirley, from Castletown, Isle of Man, said: “In August we received the call we’d been nervously waiting for and prayed would come. There was a kidney waiting for Aedan.”
He had the transplant at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital just a few weeks before his third birthday earlier this month. Shirley said: “The kidney was a great match and Aedan was well and sat up in his cot, giggling and laughing on just day five. I couldn’t believe it.”
Prisoners could soon be able to swap organ for less than year off jail sentence
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
